All Members News

Glasgow’s Senior Social Work officials have recently re-visitied a paper on resource allocation, which in June the Integrated Joint Board (IJB) refused due to concerns that the Equalities Impacts had not been considered, and that financial concerns capping individuals’ budgets could lead to forced institutionalisation.
Glasgow Disability Alliance (GDA) and others are very concerned that if approved this approach ...

The Centre for Inclusive Living Perth and Kinross have recently produced a handy accessibility guide for the Central Perth area. This was produced with help from Perth College and funded by the Creative Community Fund. The guide highlights accessibility in key areas of interest, as well as local cafes/restaurants. The guide shows where you can find ...

At the start of the month our AGM took place in with co-hosts SDS Forum East Renfrewshire. There were 49 delegates in total in attendance from a range of membership organisations from across Scotland.
As well as an opportunity to discuss the work of SDSS over the last 12 months, highlight key achievements and challenges and for ...

Audit Scotland have recently a new report on the progress and status of Health and social care integration. Their own summary states: ‘While some improvements have been made to the delivery of health and social care services, Integration Authorities, councils and NHS boards need to show a stronger commitment to collaborative working to achieve the real ...

The Community Brokerage Network have just announced the opening of their new award in Community Brokerage. Community Brokerage describes a model which builds the capacity of individuals to live independently in their own community, building on their strengths and using resources like Self-directed Support to help them do this.
The Community Brokerage award is a customised ...

SDSS are delighted to release the full programme for our upcoming AGM on Thursday 1st November which will be an opportunity for members to discuss the last year and hear more about upcoming SDSS research. This event will give members an exclusive look at our new and improved website and database for Independent Support. During ...

Many of you will have been involved in the development of the existing SDS Implementation Plan and will be wondering what next for SDS implementation?
The current Implementation Plan runs from 2016-2018, and Scottish Government wants to hear from you on what is working well, what needs to change at national level, and what you would ...

The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme was launched in 2011 and is managed by Disclosure Scotland to help ensure people whose behaviour makes them unsuitable to work with children or protected adults can’t do regulated work with these vulnerable groups. On 25 April 2018, the Scottish Government launched a consultation on how they can simplify and ...

The Scottish Government and COSLA (The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities) are seeking views and input on the development of a national programme to support adult social care reform. You can find out more about what the Scottish Government and COSLA are asking here
SDSS will be responding on behalf of our members, so we would ...

SDSS AGM 2018: Getting out of the Woods
The SDSS AGM 2018 ‘Getting out of the woods’ is a members only event and an opportunity to discuss the work of SDSS over the last 12 months, highlight key achievements and challenges and for members to have a say about the future work and governance of SDSS.
We are hosting this year’s AGM ...

Speak Your Mind! Dementia, SDS and Promoting Individual Autonomy
Friday 19th October 2018 – in Glasgow
10:00 am – 12:00 noon
This FREE event will look at how self-directed support can promote individual autonomy for people with dementia, particularly in situations where there are actual or potential interventions under mental health, adults with incapacity or adult support and ...

Alzheimer Scotland are conducting a short survey to find out more about what is happening locally from organisations involved directly in supporting people with self-directed support, so that they can further support and guide people living with dementia and their families regarding Self-Directed Support.
This could be for example about providing information about organisations who can help ...

Legal Issues – ‘Sleep-in’ shifts and the National Minimum Wage
You might have heard of the recent Court of Appeal Judgement on the outcome of paying care staff the National Minimum Wage (NMW) for sleep-ins. There is now a useful description of the Court Judgement and what this means for staff working sleepovers and the employers paying ...

SDSS Developments, what’s next?
2018 has been a busy time for SDSS in terms of technology. We are in the process of redeveloping our website & with the new GDPR regulation coming into effect we took the opportunity to implement a number of system improvements. Find out more about these changes and how we can use ...

It is with great sadness that we must share the news that our dear friend and colleague Peter Brawley passed away on 23rd July 2018 after a short illness. For decades, Peter has been a leading figure in the Independent Living Movement in Scotland. He played a vital role in founding GCIL and was their ...

On 28th June SDSS held an event in Glasgow to bring members together with representatives from Disclosure Scotland, as part of the ongoing PVG Scheme Review. Notes from this session are available below: You can download the notes here.
As part of the consultation Disclosure Scotland have also produced a supporting document ...

Support in the Right Direction 2021: grants announced!
On Wednesday Jamie Macdougall from Scottish Government announced officially that Support in the Right Direction (SiRD2021) grants have been allocated. The announcement was made at an event was hosted by Lothian Centre of Inclusive Living (LCiL) , who were successful grant applicants and are delighted to extend their ...

The fund is open for applications from third sector organisations – charities, social enterprises and voluntary groups,based in Scotland who are currently providing support to carers which is aligned with the implementation of the Carers (Scotland) Act 2016. This funding is to improve their capacity to carry out their role in local implementation of the Act. Your organisation ...

Meet our new Research Officer: Dianne Theakstone
Hi, I’m Dianne Theakstone and I’ve recently joined the SDSS team. My best buddy (who you can see in the picture) is Merlin, my 2 year old, very mischievous black lab guide dog.
I come from a research background that focuses upon co-production methodology with disabled people and exploring how to ...

‘Supporting Carers to be Healthy and Connected’ – Research Summary for Carers Week 2018
Carers Week is an annual campaign to raise awareness of caring, highlight the challenges carers face and recognise the contribution they make to families and communities throughout the UK.
The survey findings are based upon the 6,828 responses to the State of Caring ...

This resource shares the learning, tools and tips generated by a programme of workshops on sustainability, centred on the Lasting Difference toolkit. The programme ran from August 2017 to January 2018, involving 52 people from 28 organisations across Scotland. It was hosted by Scottish Government, who had funded the participating organisations to support the implementation ...

Scottish Govt ‘SDS Communications Group’ Survey: How do people learn about SDS?
The Scottish Government Communications Group was set up to look at SDS communications, specifically around Outcome 1 of the 2016/18 SDS Implementation Plan which states:
Supported people have more choice and control
Citizens are engaged, informed, included and empowered to make choices about their support. They ...

Supporting Disabled Children, Young People and their Families:
Scottish Government Consultation on a Resource for the Information Needs of children and families In 2016 the Scottish Government set out a plan to make life better for disabled people in Scotland – this was called A Fairer Scotland for Disabled People.
Part of this plan was to make a ...

Professional Development Award in Mental Health and Peer Support The Professional Development Award (PDA) in Mental Health Peer Support is designed to facilitate candidates in the role of peer support worker. The PDA equips candidates with the knowledge, skills and values which are necessary to carry out this role. Time & Location: Date: ‎September‎ ‎17‎th 2018
Time: ‎10‎:‎00‎ ‎am Location: ...

Open University: New Revised Online SDS Course
The Open University has had recently updated and improved this course so that it considers self-directed support for both children and adults.
The Course has six sections, which can be studied in any order: Understanding personalisation and its history
Making personalisation happen: Co-production
Outcomes based thinking
Personalisation and risk
Workforce
Working together for personalisation. The course includes a ...

‘Making the Law Work for You’:
SDS, Human Rights and Equalities
A three day training course for SDSS FULL Members
SDSS have commissioned MECOPP to exclusively run their 3 day SDS, Human Rights and Equalities Training for Full Member organisations. The training will happen over 3 weeks (1 day per week) on: Day 1: Wednesday 4th July from 10.30am – ...

Participation Requests Training: Bring public authorities to the table!
The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act (2015) created new opportunities in Scotland. Participation requests have been introduced under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act which was passed in July 2015. They are a new means by which community groups / communities of interest can request to have greater involvement ...

This fund is an opportunity for third sector organisations and any statutory sector partners to work together over a short period to demonstrate and build capacity for self management approaches to be strengthened in integration partnerships.
Key Information: The Fund is open to applications until 5pm on Friday 29th June 2018 (Now closed)
Organisations can apply for 12 – ...

Members’ Event-Review of Social Work Scotland’s Report:’Best Practice and Local Authority Progress in Self-Directed Support’
Social Work Scotland were asked to work with Local Authorites to find examples of best practice in SDS. Whilst they are aware of some of the issues in terms of the implementation of the SDS Act and in the use of ...

An Individual Service Fund (ISF) is one way of managing an individual budget available under Option 2 of the Self-Directed Support Act.
In Control Scotland has produced a new guide to making Individual Service Funds work for people. They outline the core components of an ISF, details what needs to be in place for an ISF to work ...

This Scottish Government consultation seeks views on proposals for the reform to the disclosure regime in Scotland. The aim is for respondents to focus on what changes are required to make disclosure of criminal convictions fit for the 21st century. Some changes that may be identified might be better pursued through non-legislative means. Others may ...

Public Audit and Post-legislative Scrutiny Committee The role of the PAPLS Committee is to scrutinise the Scottish Government, in relation to the following matters: Considering issues arising from audit of Scottish Government and public bodies’ accounts.
Scrutinising the financial performance of the Scottish Government and public bodies.
Examining the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of the public sector.
Post-legislative scrutiny. The Social ...

The newly published Research Findings (‘Review of Independent Information and Support Services’) by Craigforth social researchers on the independent support provided by organisations funded through Support in the Right Direction, found strong evidence that independent support plays a key role in the delivery of social care, and that without it many people would have struggled ...

Breaking News – Self Directed Support SiRD2021 Fund Now Open for Applications:
The new Support in the Right Direction Fund (SiRD2021) is open for applications as of today, 5th February. The deadline for applying is 12pm (midday) on Tuesday 3 April 2018.
The application process is being managed by Inspiring Scotland and you can get information on ...

The Scottish Government has announced the opening date for the new round of ‘Support in the Right Direction’ funding, SIRD2021.
This fund is aimed at organisations providing Independent Information and Support for people trying to access and make best use of the funding they receive under Self Directed Support. The funding will be for 2 and ...

SDSS are looking to run Disability Equality Training for any members that would like to attend. This is different from Awareness Training.
Disability Equality training is designed and delivered by disabled people and covers four fundamental elements: Models of Disability, which explores frameworks for understanding disability;
Language of Disability, which explores why language is important and identifies some ...

Personal Assistant (PA) Survey by Strathclyde University
Strathclyde University are undertaking a survey to look at the experience of working as a Personal Assistant in Scotland, as well as how the role of a PA can support innovation and achieving the Personal Outcomes that are important to the PA Employer.
The survey is based on a tool ...

Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL), the PA Network Scotland and SSSC worked together on producing the ‘PAssport to Independent Living’ book, highlighting the work that PAs do and the relationship they have with their employers and Self Directed Support.
This is a collection of stories that shines a light on a very special partnership. The relationship between a ...

SUSE run an employability project called ‘Access to Employment’ which gives people an individual budget that they can use to support them with their employment goals.
As part of this project, they would like to understand the barriers that people may face if they have an individual budget and want to get a paid job, undertake ...

The Scottish Government will be opening a new fund to support the development Self Directed Support aimed at Independent Information and Support organisations across Scotland. Before this fund is available, the Scottish Government would like to know what people’s views are on the parameters for the fund.
Currently, there has been 3 consultation events in Edinburgh, Glasgow and ...

A huge thank you to all who joined us for our AGM in October, which already seems some way away now!
It was fantastic to have so many members involved throughout the day, and we found it really useful to get feedback from all of you on some of the key issues facing us all at ...

Preparing for the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 12 Steps to take now
The Information Commissioners Office has created a Guide to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) which helps explain the provisions of the GDPR and how organisations can comply with the requirements of the legislation. This is for those people who have day-to-day responsibility ...

The Future of SIRD – Consultation now open!
Dear all
You will be aware that the Minister for Cabinet for Health and Sport announced that, in addition to a 6 month extension for currently funded Support in the Right Direction projects, Scottish Government would engage in a collaborative process to design the next round of the Support ...

The Scottish Government funded 2 pilot projects to look at how SDS could be applied to residential care in Scotland. As you will know, under the current SDS legislation, it is not possible to fund someone living in residential care through SDS and the legislation is not being applied in this area. However, as the residential ...

New Carers Act for 1st April 2018 – have your say on the Draft Regulations and Carers Charter
The new Carers (Scotland) Act 2016 will come into force on 1st April 2018. To be ready for this, the Scottish Government are asking people for their views on the the Regulations and the Carers Charter. There are ...

Inspiring Scotland Surveys on Accessible Play for Children with additional support needs
Inspiring Scotland Go2Play colleagues are commissioning researcher Theresa Casey to write a guide to developing inclusive play spaces. As part of her research she is conducting two short surveys.
What makes play areas accessible and inclusive? Two short surveys. This survey is for families with children ...

At SDSS we know that the world of PA employment is always changing, so here is a round up of a few key recent developments:
The Living Wage Increase:
In May 2017, the Living Wage went up to £8.45 per hour.
Should I pay my PA the Living Wage?
The Scottish Government and Local Government have jointly committed to ...

Three years since the Social Care (Self-directed Support)(Scotland) Act 2013 came in to force, evidence highlights that policy and practice remain inconsistent across Scotland, limiting the potential of Self Directed Support to transform lives. Complex procedures, reductions in Local Authority funding, lack of access to independent advocacy and Independent Support can all prevent people from ...

Now in its third year as a joint venture, Birchwood Highland and Marie Curie would like to invite you to Royal Ascot at the Kingsmills Hotel, a wonderful day of racing and fundraising! With support fr...

Many of us can often feel a bit sluggish after the indulgence of the festive period but taking part in our New Year Step Count Challenge may be just the thing to help boost your motivation and regain ...

Some folk believe DICE is no longer operating as we currently have no funding - we are still here, funding it ourselves, still free of charge! If anyone needs help to access or manage self directed support please get in touch! Sue x ... See MoreSee Less